OBS Chapter 161 Live Trial, Shattering the Lies
Chapter 161 Live Trial, Shattering the Lies
9:50 a.m.
The China World Trade Center Phase III Hotel in Beijing has a banquet hall that can accommodate 1,000 people.
The crystal chandelier cast a cool light, and the cameras and microphones of more than 130 media outlets were pointed at the podium.
Zhou Man sat to the side of the main podium, looking down at her speech notes.
She was wearing a well-tailored off-white business suit, and her hair was neatly styled in a bun.
On the left was warm water, and in the brown paper bag on the right was the "trump card" given to him by Lu Haiming.
In the VIP seats, Zhao Donglai of Wanda Cinemas leaned back in his chair, twirling a Montblanc pen between his fingers.
"This woman's pen is sharp enough."
The person in charge at Jin Yi looked at Zhou Man on the stage and said, "After yesterday's article was published, the refund rate in the south has already exceeded 40%. Chen Yan can't turn things around this time."
Zhao Donglai stopped twirling the pen and put it back in his suit pocket.
"Although Lu Haiming is in jail, the game he left behind is enough to seal Chen Yan's fate. After today's press conference, the whole country will be drowning in criticism of Yanying Culture. At 2 PM, 'Broken Bridge' will be completely taken offline."
10 o'clock sharp.
Zhou Man stood up and walked to the podium.
She adjusted the microphone height and glanced across the audience.
Good morning, friends from the media.
Zhou Man's voice resounded throughout the venue through the loudspeaker: "Today, we are here to expose a lie that has been hidden for many years. A lie about Chen Yan, the Cannes Palme d'Or winner and the so-called 'leading figure among young directors'."
The sound of camera shutters clicking rapidly from the audience.
Zhou Man opened the brown paper bag, pulled out a document, and showed it to the camera.
"In 1995, a landslide occurred on the seventh section of the Jing-Tong Expressway, killing six workers. In his novel 'Broken Bridge,' Chen Yan portrayed himself as a hero who pursued the truth. But he didn't tell everyone that the senior engineer in charge of material acceptance for that section was his father, Chen Jianguo."
The large screen lit up, projecting the C30 building materials acceptance form with Chen Jianguo's signature.
"This is a copy of the original document from 1995."
Zhou Man pointed to the signature on the screen, "Chen Jianguo accepted a kickback of 300,000 yuan and replaced the required C50 special concrete with inferior C30 ordinary concrete. This is the real cause of the collapse. The money Chen Yan used to study abroad, and his first pot of gold for making movies, are all stained with the blood of those six workers."
The sound of camera shutters suddenly intensified several times over, and countless reporters stood up from their seats, desperately stretching their microphones forward.
"Editor-in-Chief Zhou! Is the source of this document reliable?"
Has Chen Yan himself responded to this?
Zhou Man placed her hands on the podium and leaned forward.
"The documents were provided by the core management personnel of the project at the time and have been notarized. As for Chen Yan, he is currently hiding in his office, trying to use his capital to suppress the report. But I, Zhou Man, will never let the truth be buried."
10:15.
The double mahogany doors of the banquet hall were pushed open from the outside.
The sound of bearing friction drowned out the reporter's question.
Everyone turned their heads.
Wu Gang walked at the very front.
He was wearing a black windbreaker, zipped up to the top, obscuring his chin.
Six security personnel from Yanying Culture lined up in a fan shape behind him.
Four hotel security guards at the entrance stepped forward to stop them.
"Sir, this is a private press conference..."
As soon as the security guard reached out, Wu Gang grabbed the man's wrist with his left hand and twisted it outwards.
A cracking sound came from the dislocated joints.
The security guard cried out in pain and bent over.
Wu Gang then delivered a side kick, sending him flying three meters away, where he crashed into the registration table.
Three other security guards pulled out rubber batons and surrounded them.
Wu Gang lunged forward, dodging the rubber baton that was about to strike, and his right fist struck one of the men in the ribs.
The sound of bone cracking was clear.
Then, with a low sweeping kick, he took down the second person.
Before the third security guard could swing his baton, Wu Gang's fingers had already gripped his throat, slamming him heavily against the wall.
Chen Yan stepped over the security guards on the ground and entered the venue.
He was wearing a dark gray cashmere coat over a black turtleneck sweater.
Su Wan walked to his left, carrying a silver metal briefcase.
On the right is a lawyer dressed in a suit.
Old Li, wearing a tattered cotton-padded coat, walked in the middle of the group, head down, avoiding the flashing lights.
The reporters spontaneously made way for them.
The camera turned around, and the lens followed Chen Yan's steps.
Zhao Donglai sat in the VIP seat, his hand holding the coffee cup suspended in mid-air.
Chen Yan walked straight to the podium.
Zhou Man took a step back, her high heels landing on the microphone cord, and she nearly fell.
"Chen Yan, what are you doing! Security!"
Chen Yan did not look at her.
He unplugged Zhou Man's laptop, and the large screen went black.
Su Wan placed the metal briefcase on the table, entered the password, and unlocked the latch.
Inside the box was a high-precision portable spectrometer scanner and two documents in a transparent sealed bag.
Chen Yan picked up the microphone.
"My name is Chen Yan. I am the founder of Yanying Culture."
Chen Yan's voice was amplified and carried throughout the venue.
"Editor-in-Chief Zhou said I was hiding in the office. I just went to pick up two people and get some things."
He turned to look at Su Wan.
Su Wan connected the scanner to the large screen.
"The photocopy that Zhou Man presented is fake."
Chen Yan said.
"Director Chen! Editor-in-Chief Zhou said the document has been notarized!"
A reporter shouted.
Chen Yan took the sealed bag from Su Wan, pulled out the yellowed original document, and laid it flat on the scanner's platform.
"Liu Pei, Director of the Trace Evidence Examination Department, National Forensic Science Center."
Chen Yan pointed to the lawyer beside him, "The equipment he brought can perform ink stain comparison at the micron level."
Liu Pei stepped forward and operated the scanner.
An ultra-high-definition magnified image of the original appeared on the large screen.
"This is the original acceptance form for the seventh section in 1995."
Liu Pei explained into the microphone, "Look at the date in the lower right corner. August 12, 1995. To the lower right of the character '日' (day), there are three tiny black dots arranged in a triangular shape."
As the screen zoomed in further, the three black dots became clearly visible.
"This is engineer Chen Jianguo's habit. The Parker pen nib he uses is specially polished. After signing, he makes three dots, and the ink penetrates into the third layer of paper fibers, making it impossible to forge."
Liu Pei took out the original document and replaced it with a scanned copy provided by Lu Haiming.
"Now look at the document provided by Zhou Man. Under a high-powered microscope, observe the edges of the signature."
The screen image changed, and a very fine fault line appeared around the signature.
"These are physical signs of splicing. Someone cut out Chen Jianguo's signature from other documents, pasted it onto the forged C30 building materials acceptance form, and then made a copy. Under spectral analysis, the breakage of the paper fibers and the uneven distribution of the toner are clearly visible."
The entire room fell silent.
The color drained from Zhou Man's face. She stared at the test results on the big screen, her lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.
Zhao Donglai put down his coffee cup, stood up, and prepared to leave through the side door.
"Mr. Zhao, the show isn't over yet, are you in such a hurry to leave?"
Chen Yan's voice came through.
Zhao Donglai stopped in his tracks.
All the cameras in the room were pointed at him.
Chen Yan turned around and pulled Lao Li in front of the microphone.
"Li Fuquan. Technician of the seventh section of the Jing-Tong Expressway in 1995. Responsible for managing project seals and blank documents."
Chen Yan patted Lao Li on the shoulder, "Lao Li, tell them what happened back then."
Old Li looked up at the camera below the stage, his body trembling.
He swallowed hard, his voice hoarse.
"In 1995, Lu Haiming received a batch of substandard cement. Engineer Chen discovered it but refused to sign off on it. Wang, Lu Haiming's subordinate, drugged my drink. They stole the seal and forged this C30 acceptance form. When Engineer Chen found out, he said he would report it to the Discipline Inspection Commission. The next day, he was hit and killed by a truck. They set fire to my dormitory, but I was lucky and escaped. For the past ten years or so, I have been hiding in Tianjin."
Old Li pulled a half-burnt work ID from his pocket and held it above his head.
The label reads "Technician of the Seventh Section of the Jing-Tong Project: Li Fuquan".
The entire banquet hall was deathly silent, with only Old Li's heavy breathing and the static of the camera working.
The banquet hall doors were pushed open again.
Liang Qinian, dressed in a crisp police uniform, entered the venue with four economic crime investigation officers.
He was holding a document stamped with a red seal.
Liang Qinian walked to the front of the stage and turned to face the media.
"I am Liang Qinian from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Tianjin Municipal Public Security Bureau."
He unfolded the document, "After the public security authorities reopened the case and conducted an investigation, they have obtained conclusive evidence. The suspect, Lu Haiming, is suspected of multiple crimes, including intentional homicide, forgery of official documents and seals of state organs, and involvement in a major engineering safety accident."
Two economic crime investigation police officers walked onto the podium and stood on either side of Zhou Man.
"Zhou Man, you are suspected of accepting huge amounts of money, fabricating facts to defame others, and seriously disrupting public order. Please come with us."
The police showed the arrest warrant.
Zhou Man's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground.
The speech notes in his hand were scattered all over the floor.
Two police officers grabbed her arms and dragged her out of the venue.
Chen Yan stood on the stage, watching Zhou Man being taken away, and watching Zhao Donglai's ashen face.
He did not issue a victory declaration.
He unplugged the USB drive, closed the computer, and turned to walk off the stage.
Su Wan followed behind him, carrying her suitcase.
Wu Gang led the way.
The group walked through the banquet hall.
……
Tianjin No. 1 Detention Center.
In the solitary confinement cell, a television on the wall was broadcasting a live news report.
In the scene, Chen Yan's figure disappears outside the gate of China World Trade Center Phase 3, followed by a close-up of Zhou Man being taken away by the police.
Lu Haiming sat on the iron bed.
He looked at the original document on the screen, magnified countless times and marked with a triangular pattern, and at Old Li's wrinkled face.
His Adam's apple bobbed up and down.
The plastic water cup slipped from his hand and hit the cement floor with a dull thud.
Water splashed onto the trouser legs of the prison uniform.
The door lock turned.
Two prison guards pushed open the iron gate.
"Lu Haiming, come out. Take him in for questioning."
At the entrance of the China World Hotel, Chen Yan and his group were about to get into their car when Zhao Donglai, accompanied by several bodyguards, blocked their way.
"Chen Yan".
Zhao Donglai's voice was deep. "I've taken note of what happened today."
Chen Yan stopped and looked at him without saying a word.
"You think that's all?"
Zhao Donglai straightened his tie. "Starting tomorrow, all 1,700 cinemas across the five major cinema chains nationwide will permanently blacklist all films produced by you and Yanying Culture. The box office performance of 'Broken Bridge' will be permanently frozen at today."
"yes."
Chen Yan finally spoke, looking at the bustling night view of Beijing behind Zhao Donglai, "Then let's see who falls first."
After saying that, he opened the car door and got in.
The black van merged into the traffic and disappeared from sight.